When Michael Smerconish approached MSNBC President Phil Griffin last month about leaving the network for a CNN gig, it already was clear that the radio host and “Hardball” guest-host wasn’t the network’s type.

“(Griffin) didn’t hold me back, he was always very clear with me saying ‘This is your role here, we’re liberal and we’re nerdy and you’re neither but we love having you. You could guest host Hardball as long you’d like’,” Smerconish, a guest host for Matthews for four years, recounted in a recent interview.

“(MSNBC) respected the fact that maybe I was not going to lean as far forward as they were looking to, but we worked it out and the numbers (while guest hosting) were good. If the numbers weren’t good I wouldn’t be going to CNN right now,” he said.

On Saturday at 9 a.m., the weekly show “Smerconish” debuted on CNN, a move the long-time radio host said is fitting for the type of show he wants to have.

“The type of program I do on radio is far more in keeping than with what CNN does on TV than it is with Fox or MSNBC, so I think it’s a really good fit,” Smerconish said. “This gives me an opportunity to have program where I can put my imprint on it, and it will be more of what I do on radio.”

Smerconish said he envisions the new program will be an extension of his radio program on SiriusXM, which he will continue hosting along with writing a Philadelphia Inquirer column. On the radio, Smerconish said he said he doesn’t feel “obligated to stay on the front page” and a place where he can explore a wide range of issues he finds interesting.

Broadcasting from outside Philadelphia, Smerconish covers a wide range of issues on his radio show from typical Washington politics to weight loss tips. Though his New York-based CNN show will focus a fair amount on politics, Smerconish said don’t be surprised if references to things like the show “True Detective” get in as well.

“The radio show is a place where you see what people are most passionate about, that ought to give me an advantage in knowing what really is an issue that strikes a chord,” he said. “You’ve got to have the right content. You’ve got to present it in an engaging way where people know you’re not trying to sell them an ideological view.”

A lawyer who at one point worked in the George H. Bush administration and who has published several books with a forthcoming novel in the works, Smerconish formally left the Republican party in 2010 and doesn’t see himself aligned with any party, a viewpoint he said is reflected in his show.

“I think I need to disabuse some people of the idea that to be independent is to be lacking in convictions. I have lots of convictions - it’s just that they don’t stack up neatly,” Smerconish said. “The only people I meet who see the world entirely liberal entirely conservative, they are talk radio hosts and cable television presenters.”

Noting that he’s going to be one of the only personality-drive shows in the Saturday CNN line-up, Smerconish said he hopes to be able to spend time debating interesting guests and espousing his point of view on issues.

“The format’s going to be topical, conversational, it will give me the opportunity to express opinion like I do on radio but not to beat you over the head with it and I think it will give me the opportunity to get into a wide range of subject matter,” Smerconish said. “It’s most exciting for me to see it’s no one’s environment but mine and CNN has tried to adapt what they’re providing to me.”

Though Smerconish said he doesn’t know what the long-road is for him at CNN (his show went from idea to on-air over a very short time period), the network is in the midst of an upheaval as it attempts to find its space between the likes of MSNBC and Fox News. Recently, CNN head Jeff Zucker has said the network wasn’t battling Fox News and MSNBC, and is instead competing with Discovery and History and Nat Geo and A&E offering shows or mini-series like “Chicagoland” and Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown.”

“We are thrilled to have Michael join CNN,” Zucker said in a statement last month. “At a time when the cable news landscape has become increasingly polarized, his independence and passion for reasoned dialogue makes him the perfect fit for CNN.”